The post-glacial landscape evolution of the North German Basin: morphology, neotectonics and crustal deformation

Abstract

The recent evolution of the north German Basin (NGB), which is presently a low-seismic area, was partly affected by glacial loading and unloading of the ice masses. Major stresses acting within the NGB are induced by the North-Atlantic ridge push, the ongoing Alpine collision, and the post-glacial rebound of Fennoscandia. Present-day horizontal stresses within the NGB are directed generally NW-SE, but fan and bend north of 52°N towards NNE. Major basement faults are directed NW-SE, minor faults NE-SW and NNE-SSW, and are clearly detectable in geomorphological and satellite lineaments. Furthermore, the drainage pattern and the distribution of lakes in northern Germany follow exactly block boundaries and, hence, mark zones of present-day subsidence. The understanding of the post-glacial morphology and reactivation of faults requires a view into the very heterogeneous crust and upper mantle below the NGB. The re-adjustment of the individual fault blocks during postglacial relaxation of the lithosphere leads to differential, crust-dependent uplift and, probably, to the formation of Urstrom valleys. The Urstrom valleys and terminal moraines in northern Germany appear to parallel the major tectonic lineaments and lithospheric ''block'' boundaries. The lithospheric memory is expressed in the post-glacial landscape evolution of the NGB.

Response of salt structures to ice-sheet loading: implications for ice-marginal and subglacial processes

“…1; Gripp, 1952;Liszkowski, 1993;Piotrowski, 1993;Schirrmeister, 1999;Pedersen, 2000;Sirocko et al, 2002Sirocko et al, , 2008Kurzawa, 2003;Reicherter et al, 2005;Ber, 2009), but also from the margins of the Laurentide ice sheets in the Michigan Basin in the northeastern USA (White, 1992). These correlations are interpreted as pointing to an interaction between the ice sheets and the subsurface tectonic structures (cf.…”

Soft-sediment deformation of Late Pleistocene sediments along the southwestern coast of the Baltic Sea (NE Germany)

“…Similar processes are observed in the vicinity of the Laurentian Ice Shield (e.g., Braun et al 2008;Gehrels et al 2004;Thorson 1989;Walcott 1970;Wu 1996). Reicherter et al (2005) argued that the repeated loading and unloading of the crust by thick ice sheets during the Pleistocene are related to neotectonic movements as the NGB is composed of different fault-bounded crustal blocks (McCann 1999;Scheck and Bayer 1999). However, the Quaternary cover hampers the ability to detect active faults (Lehné and Sirocko 2005).…”

“…Scarce earthquakes and rare fault plane solutions indicate N-NW-directed maximum horizontal compression (Fig. 2;Reicherter et al 2005;Wylegalla and Bock, pers. comm.…”

“…1) and is generally regarded as a low seismic area Cloetingh et al 2005;Ellenberg 1992;Reicherter et al 2005;Scheck and Bayer 1999). However, repeated glaciations during the Quaternary shaped the area geomorphologically ( Fig.…”

Achievements and Challenges in Sedimentary Basin Dynamics: A Review

“…26). Owing to its hydrocarbon potential but also in terms of environmental hazard assessment, the CEBS has been the subject of extensive studies (Ziegler, 1990;Bayer et al, 1999;Van Wees et al, 2000;Scheck-Wenderoth and Lamarche, 2005;Reicherter et al 2005;Littke et al, 2008;Stackebrandt, 2008). The CEBS is superimposed on a puzzle of crustal blocks that was amalgamated during the Caledonian orogeny and encroaches in the east onto the external parts of the Variscan orogen.…”